Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Coalinga, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 6:26 am PST (14:26 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Coalinga, CA, at 4:53 am PST on 4 January 2021 (12:53 UTC), 7.7 km deep.
USGS: 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
- When
- 4:53 am PST on 4 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 7.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 69 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2129 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Coalinga, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Coalinga, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 24 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — about 8,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 34 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 44 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 9 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 32 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 34 km NNW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 36.0322, -120.5953. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Kings County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| San Benito County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Fresno County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 7km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.7 12km SW of Huron, CA
- 1.9 19km NNW of Coalinga, CA
- 2.0 12km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.7 12km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 12km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.3 17km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 4km NW of New Idria, CA
- 1.6 24km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 2.4 13km SW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.6 22km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.6 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.0 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.6 21km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Coalinga, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.